Lions Gate’s Loss Widens

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Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. on Monday reported a larger-than-expected loss for fiscal 2009 largely due to a slower box office earlier in the year.

After the markets closed, the independent movie studio, which has corporate headquarters in Vancouver but most of its operations in Santa Monica, reported that its fiscal 2009 loss widened to $163 million (-$1.40 a share) for the year ended March 31, compared with a loss of $74 million (-62 cents) in fiscal 2008. Annual revenue rose 8 percent to $1.47 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected a full-year loss of $1.24 a share on revenue of $1.46 billion.

The company, which released films during the year that included “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail,” “My Bloody Valentine 3-D” and “The Haunting In Connecticut,” did not break out results for the fourth quarter.

But with calculations based on a nine-month figure provided in its third quarter, the company had a fourth quarter loss of roughly $28.6 million, (-25 cents), compared with net income of $29.8 million (22 cents) a year ago. Revenue dropped 9 percent to $463 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expected a loss of 11 cents per share on revenue of $446 million, so the results were better than expectations.

?e believe that continued strength in our core businesses coupled with meaningful contributions from many of our recent investments and lower theatrical marketing costs position us for strong positive metrics in fiscal 2010,?Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer said in a statement.

Lions Gate shares closed up 6 cents, an increase of less then 1 percent, to $6.26 on the New York Stock Exchange, but fell 5 percent in after-market trading.

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